‘Devoted’ dad, teen daughter died in Thanksgiving crash. Now, Georgia driver charged
A “devoted” Georgia dad and his daughter, a college athlete, were killed when a pickup truck crashed into their SUV on Thanksgiving, officials said.
Now, nearly three months after the deadly crash, deputies said the man behind the wheel of the pickup may have fallen asleep. He faces multiple charges, including two counts of second-degree homicide by vehicle and failure to maintain lane.
The case dates to Nov. 24, when the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office said the Mynes family was traveling on Knox Bridge Highway in the Canton area.
As the family traveled west, an eastbound Ford F-150 pickup truck veered into oncoming traffic and hit their Nissan Armada, deputies wrote in a news release.
“A 52 year old male who was driving the Armada and his 18 year old daughter who was in the back seat were killed,” officials wrote. “His wife and juvenile daughter were transported to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.”
The family has roots in Canton, roughly 40 miles north of Atlanta, McClatchy News reported.
After the crash, the teen girl was identified as Alivia Mynes. She was a “volleyball superstar” who played at Bryan College in Tennessee and had been in town for Thanksgiving, her former team at Creekview High School wrote in a Facebook post.
“In a room full of strangers, Alivia always made friends and would make you feel like you were never alone,” an online obituary said. “She always put family first.”
The teen’s father, Chris Mynes, is remembered as a “devoted” dad and supportive husband.
“Chris loved watching his daughters play volleyball and guiding them through life,” according to his obituary on the Canton Funeral Home and Cemetery at Macedonia Memorial Park website. “He took great pride in gardening and caring for a backyard oasis for his family to enjoy.”
Deputies said other SUVs were involved in the deadly crash but that no other injuries were reported. Though test results show the pickup driver wasn’t impaired, officials believe he “fell asleep at the wheel before crossing the center line.”
The man, a 24-year-old Canton resident, turned himself in on Feb. 11 and was released on a $4,242 bond, Cherokee County officials said.
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